Harwich Middle school sale postponed for now

Neighborhood concern over a plan to build affordable housing in Harwich Middle School caused the board of selectmen to delay a vote on accepting the one bid it received to repurpose the building.

By Jamie Balliett

HARWICH -- Bowing to increasing neighborhood pressure that a decision to sell or lease the Harwich middle school at 204 Sisson Road might be hasty, the board of selectmen voted on Tuesday night to indefinitely postpone town meeting article 61 after an hour and half long discussion.

The decision was not a surprise, given that only one formal proposal was submitted to the Harwich Middle School Repurpose Committee and numerous questions surrounding the project likely would not be resolved in the coming two weeks before town meeting.

The Monomoy School District is expected to give the school back to the town when the new high school on Oak Street is completed later this year. In anticipation of this event, the repurpose committee has been meeting for over a year and a half to do research on possible options for the property and formally requested proposals this winter.

The single formal proposal received was from the Stratford Capital Group of Peabody. The company is a major developer of affordable housing. Since 2007, they have completed 93 projects worth $1.4 billion in 28 states.

In their formal proposal to the town, Stratford offered to pay $672,000 to acquire the 77,000-square-foot building and 5.5-acre lot and build 56 units of affordable housing. The builder said it would demolish a portion of the 1990-era school building, keep the original 1937 building, and erect new town houses around the structure.

Stratford has been successful on other school projects on the Cape. They have converted the John Simpkins Elementary School in South Yarmouth into 65-senior housing units as well as the Coady Middle School in Bourne into a 58-unit senior housing project.

After two meetings of discussion, the repurpose committee voted 4-3 against accepting the Stratford proposal on April 14. But ultimately the decision came down to the board of selectmen.

The packed meeting room at Harwich town hall Tuesday night was filled with neighbors concerned that the project was moving too fast.

Abutter Michael Ford, who is also the town moderator, said he was speaking as a citizen. He stated that the proposal should be turned down, pointing out that the project design and roadway around the property had issues, impacts to the elementary school would occur, as well as the surrounding neighborhood.

“They are just trying to push too much into that site,” he said, adding that given the property will cost at least $120,000 annually to maintain, an estimate should also be sought for its possible demolition and just keep the land as open space.

Ginny Hewitt, director of Brooks Free Library, commented that building affordable housing is very important, especially because the costs for housing are so high on Cape Cod. She admitted that when she first took the job with the library, she might have applied for affordable housing like this and since then several of her employees have had challenges living here and one recently left the area due to the high cost of housing.

“We are your neighbors and your friends,” she said, adding that Stratford, “Is a good company with an excellent reputation.”

Richard Waystack, a member of the repurpose committee, recommended indefinite postponement of the article, saying that, “Time is too tight. There are too many questions.”

“I think you need to expand the committee,” he said, noting that the group requires more members and this community interest could really help.

“School repurposing are not big money makers for any town,” Waystack pointed out.

Selectmen Peter Hughes, who has worked extensively on this project, said that, “Based on everything, I recommend indefinite postponement.”

Selectman Larry Ballantine wondered whether it would make sense to have a discussion with Stratford to see how flexible they are on the project.

Greg Winston, chairman of the town Historic District Committee, said that the Repurpose Committee had, “Worked very, very hard,” on this project.

But many people in town were not aware that a decision of this magnitude was so close.

“I think we are moving way too fast here,” he said.

“The town of Harwich has been known in the past to sell things or destroy them way too quickly,” he commented, urging a postponement to do more research.

Monomoy Regional School Committee member Sharon Stout commented that no action should be taken and, “Look at what we want to do for this,” before making any decisions.

The selectmen’s vote was four in support of postponement with one abstention from Ed McManus who recused himself because he’s an abutter.

While the finance committee initially offered a positive motion for Article 61, they changed their position, offering no recommendation.